


Every Heartbeat

by unsaltysaltines



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Maybe have your dentist on call, That's how tooth-rotting this is, This is pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25008367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unsaltysaltines/pseuds/unsaltysaltines
Summary: Alice Michelle comes for a sleepover.
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught
Comments: 8
Kudos: 55





	Every Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> You're welcome for…whatever this is?
> 
> Apologies if there are weird typos I might have missed; not only is this entirely unbetaed, but my computer keyboard is also a WHOLE MESS.

“You ready, sweetie?”

Nicole sighs and nods, eyeing the small vial in Waverly’s hand apprehensively. 

Waverly carefully fills the syringe, humming to herself, and Nicole hopes this is the last time she’ll have to do this—she _really_ hates needles. As she sits on the edge of the bed, clad in pajama shorts and an old t-shirt, she bounces her leg anxiously in anticipation.

_Relax_ , Nicole,” Waverly says gently. She rubs Nicole’s thigh with her free hand, and feels how tense the muscles are beneath her fingers. “You know I won’t hurt you.”

With a deep breath, Nicole is finally able to relax her leg enough for Waverly to pierce her skin with the needle and press down on the plunger. It’s over in a moment—Waverly is remarkably speedy when it comes to giving shots—and Nicole blushes fiercely as she kneels and drops a gentle kiss near the injection site.

“All set.”

“Thanks, Waves,” Nicole says with a small smile.

The fertility treatments have thrown Nicole for a loop. She’s been slammed with nearly every side effect in the book—impossible nausea, mood swings, even _hot flashes_ —but she has a good feeling about this round.

_It’ll all be worth it._

There are plenty of days where Nicole wonders if she’s even remotely prepared for parenthood, but lying in bed with Waverly in her arms, knowing they’re in this together, she can relax just a little bit.

She can deal with a few needle sticks every month if it means she and Waverly finally get to start a family.

***

Just like clockwork, Nicole spends the next several days at work walking on emotional eggshells. One minute she wants to murder every single one of her deputies, but the next…it’s all she can do not to burst into tears because her favourite pen has gone missing.

Waverly usually stops in for lunch a few times a week, but she comes by every day that week in between classes. She usually has a stack of grading to finish, but she always comes bearing coffee, not to mention she’s quite literally the only person Nicole doesn’t want to launch into the sun.

When Wynonna interrupts their lunch on Friday, it’s all Nicole can do to not throttle her on the spot.

“ _Don’t_ kill me, Haught,” Wynonna grumbles. “Because I’ll kill you right back. Are you two still okay to watch my kid this weekend?”

“Of course,” Waverly says, reaching out and squeezing Nicole’s hand gently.

“Amazing,” Wynonna says. “Alice hasn’t shut up about it all week. And I _need_ this weekend away like you wouldn’t _believe_. Once you pop one out, Haught…you’ll get it.”

Nicole laughs and rolls her eyes. Honestly, she’d forgotten that they’d agreed to watch Alice that weekend.

***

Wynonna and Alice knock on their door later that evening. Alice is sporting the Wonder Woman backpack they’d given her for Christmas, and Waverly sees that she’s now in possession of a matching suitcase.

“She insisted on bringing her ‘luggage,’” Wynonna says with a barely concealed grin.

Alice abandons her “luggage” to jump into her aunt’s outstretched arms, and Waverly scoops her up off the ground.

“You be good for your aunts, you little stinker,” Wynonna says with a wink. She tousles Alice’s hair playfully and gives her a kiss on the head before turning and walking back to the familiar red car parked in the driveway. Waverly catches sight of Doc waiting in the front seat and gives him a wave.

“I think Auntie ‘Cole is in the kitchen,” Waverly whispers mischievously into her niece’s ear as she opens the front door. “You should go see what she’s up to.”

Alice drops her backpack on the porch as she runs for the living room, shouting “ _Auntie ‘Cole! Auntie ‘Cole!_ ” at the top of her lungs. Waverly giggles as she hears a loud “ _OOF!_ ” from inside the house—clearly the sound of Alice finding her intended target.

Waverly picks up Alice’s backpack and her (very light) suitcase and brings them up to the spare room that really might as well be her own at this point.

When they first started dating, Nicole used to talk about how her three-bedroom house always felt too big for just her and Calamity, how she _really_ should downsize. Now, the tables have turned completely, and the bedroom that Nicole once used for nothing but excess storage is slowly being cleaned out in anticipation of the new arrival they’re hoping to welcome soon.

The promise of chocolate ice cream is all it takes to send the four-year-old flying upstairs to put on her pajamas, and Waverly laughs as Alice nearly runs her over on the stairs.

Nicole is leaning against the frame of the kitchen, grinning.

“Chocolate ice cream, hm?” Waverly says quietly, sidling up to the tall redhead and wrapping her arms around her waist. “Sounds like _somebody_ went to the grocery store after work.”

“Don’t worry,” Nicole says before leaning in for a quick kiss. “I got some of the vegan stuff you like too. Sprinkles, too.”

“You’re adorable,” Waverly says quietly. Nicole’s cheeks flush pink and she gives a small shrug in response, a twinkle in her eyes.

“I know,” Nicole says, flashing Waverly a dimpled smile before going upstairs to change out of her uniform.

***

Nicole lets Alice help scoop their ice cream from the tub, but puts Alice entirely in charge of toppings for all three of them. The toddler takes her job very seriously; she furrows her tiny brows in concentration, and Nicole is floored by how much she looks like her mother.

“Nicole, are you about to cry?” Waverly asks, her voice barely louder than a whisper. Nicole sniffs, looks at her wife—who’s very clearly trying not to laugh—and nods. Waverly gives her a kiss on the cheek just as Alice loudly announces that their ice cream is ready and that it’s time for “da bears,” whatever that means.

“Da bears” turns out to mean Alice’s new favourite cartoon. She’s produced a DVD from her “luggage,” along with a set of matching stuffed bears and what Waverly and Nicole recognize as her favourite blanket, the one she sleeps with every night. Alice settles herself between them on the couch, thrusting a bear upon each of them, as Waverly plays the DVD.

As it turns out, Wynonna has really dodged a bullet with this show. It’s sweet and funny, and it doesn’t hurt that the animation style is adorable. Nicole asks lots of questions to engage their niece, questions that Alice answers happily between huge bites of ice cream.

Eventually, once the ice cream has been devoured and Alice is getting sleepy between them, they come to an episode that features an enthusiastic park ranger. Seeing how closely Alice is snuggled up to Nicole, clutching her grizzly bear to her chest, Waverly gets up to collect their empty bowls and bring them to the kitchen. When she returns, she sinks a little deeper into the couch.

“I like Ranger Tabes,” Alice mumbles sleepily. “A lot.”

“You do?” Waverly asks quietly, reaching out to gently run her fingers through her niece’s hair. “What is it you like about her?”

Alice yawns widely before she answers.

“She’s just like you, Auntie ‘Cole,” she says sleepily. “She always helps the bears and the animals and she likes to do the right thing. AND she’s got red hair,” she adds emphatically, as though it’s the most important thing.

“I think you’re right,” Waverly says, looking over Alice’s head at Nicole, who’s staring a little too intently at the TV. “She’s the _best_ at helping people.”

Nicole grips the polar bear in her lap tightly and pretends not to notice that she’s about to cry. _Again_.

They tuck Alice into bed together when the episode is finished, and she’s asleep almost immediately. When Waverly closes the door behind them and turns to look at her, Nicole lets out a huge, shaky breath, her wide eyes shining with tears.

“ _Sweetie_ …”

Waverly can’t help but smile as she pulls Nicole into a hug.

“That was pretty sweet, eh?” Waverly says as she rubs her wife’s back in a soothing rhythm. Nicole mumbles something completely unintelligible into Waverly’s shoulder, muffled both by tears and the fabric of Waverly’s shirt.

“ _What_ was that?”

Nicole pulls back, wiping her eyes.

“F-fucking hormones,” she hiccups. 

“C’mon,” Waverly says. “I’ll make you a drink.”

***

“I’m sorry for laughing earlier,” Waverly says quietly once she’s curled up against Nicole’s side on the couch, drinks in hand, their own show playing on the TV.

Nicole sniffles and shakes her head. “It’s just hormones. No need to be sorry.”

“I think it’s _really_ cute, if that makes you feel better,” Waverly murmurs, which draws a grin from the redhead.

“That kid is so sweet; are we _sure_ she’s Wynonna’s?”

Waverly can’t help but laugh out loud. “You saw how she’s practically a carbon copy of my sister, right?”

“This is still _Purgatory_ _!_ ”

They sit in comfortable silence, enjoying Waverly’s excellent bartending skills.

“You really think it’ll work this time, hm?” Nicole says eventually.

“Yup,” Waverly says simply. “I’ve got a good feeling.”

_It’ll all be worth it._

**Author's Note:**

> Title from [this Grace Potter song](https://open.spotify.com/track/17yygEeMNGsYZgGeiC4Qpt?si=Caxd99IaQGiaZ1_MJffFzQ). I don't know.
> 
> By all means, please feel free to [come yell at me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/unsaltysaltines)!
> 
> Also, please wear a mask.


End file.
